The Foundation's first quarter saw a 95% increase in scholarship applications with female student applications doubling, minority student applications nearly tripling, and the minority female participation rate increased by a factor of four. Scholarships are central to our mission to inspire, prepare and support young people in their pursuit of manufacturing and engineering education and training.
SME and the SME Education Foundation are mourning with great sadness the passing of the SME Education Foundation Board President, Dr. Irving P. McPhail. In his career, Dr. McPhail made outstanding and unforgettable contributions to the advancement of manufacturing and education. His service to the SME Education Foundation was marked by great passion for manufacturing education, deep commitment to broadening opportunities in this industry for all communities, and a sincere belief in the mission of the Foundation to inspire and support talented young people from all backgrounds.
In 2016, we awarded $573,220 to 249 students across the country, with awards ranging from $1,000 to $40,000.
The SME Education Foundation received a $300,000 grant from Arconic Foundation, the independently endowed philanthropic arm of Arconic Inc., to expand its PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) initiative.
The SME Education Foundation has presented substantial scholarships to six young men and women who will be pursuing degrees in manufacturing engineering and related technologies in the 2017-2018 academic year.
Lindsey Prestholdt received SME Education Foundation scholarships while majoring in mechanical engineering at North Dakota State University. Lindsey plans to join 3M in 2021 as an optimize operations engineer, assigned to process improvement projects while gaining extensive training in areas such as lean manufacturing.
Dana Emswiler graduated from the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh in 2021. Her studies in Industrial Engineering were supported in part by scholarships from the SME Education Foundation.
A sophomore at Georgia Tech, scholarships are critical to sustaining Gideon Ndeh. “Scholarships are life changing. They shift the momentum; allow focus on my education. They’ve been a necessity — they’ve changed everything. I feel blessed.”
The SME Education Foundation scholarships support students pursuing degrees in advanced manufacturing and related fields at two- and four-year schools, colleges and universities. We have awarded more than $7 million to nearly 3,000 deserving students in the United States and Canada since 2005.
The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and Georgia Association of Manufacturers (GAM) have partnered with the SME Education Foundation to provide a unique industry-informed, hands-on manufacturing program to select high school students across the state, through the Foundation’s SME PRIME program.